Family Ties
by Excelcia
Summary: Duo discovers a secret that was hidden from him as a child. Now he scrambles to find the missing pieces of his childhood while maintaining the covertness of being a Gundam pilot. Will he succeed in finding what he's looking for?
1. Memories and Discovery

Family Ties

By Excelcia

Chapter 1:  Memories and Discovery

Disclaimer:  I do NOT own Gundam Wing or any characters associated with Sunrise Inc.  Kitana Mason and other characters in this fic are copyrighted to me, for they come of my freaky subconscious.  Thank you!  Enjoy the fic.  Come again.

            "Sir, Gundams 01, 02, and 04 are totally annihilating our back up troops!!"  
            "Well send out more!"  
            "There ARE no more!"   
            "DAMNIT!" The commander slammed his fist on the console of the carrier.  If they were going to defeat these damn rebels, they needed to be better prepared!  He watched as the gundam 04 sliced through five of their last Aries suits with three quick slashes of its long, curved blades.  It was only a matter of time before they reached-

            "COMMANDER!!" It was too late to sound the evacuation siren.  01 was already charging its large buster rifle.  The commander hung his head in defeat and said a silent prayer for his widowed family.  At least he was going to die bravely in battle…

~^*^~

            Heero watched as the explosion of the final carrier appeared over the five different view screens of his gundam.  A small smirk flickered across his lips, and then faded just as fast as it had appeared.  He pulled up an image of Sandrock and one of Deathscythe Hell.  Duo was taking his time finishing off the last of the mobile assault suits.  Heero chimed in with the dying of the last explosion.  "Mission complete."

            "They fought well.  Their mistake was they didn't have enough manpower to get rid of us."  
            "Can we just blow the hell outta this place and go?  I'm hungry!" 

            Heero shrugged. "As you wish." He took aim and fired up the buster rifle.  
            "HEY! Not at me!!" Deathscythe moved out of Wing's path of destruction.  "Oi, thanks a lot Heero."  Duo punched a few keys on the console and looked at the picture that appeared in front of him.  Rocks and rubble littered the area and moss covered the ruins, indicating that they had been there quite some time.  Duo sighed, "I can't believe it's already been 10 years."  He looked back at the box behind him and sighed again.  He had one other thing to do before he left the area with the others. 

~^*^~

            Quatre had tried raising Duo over and over.  "Duo, answer me! Where are you going?"  Deathscythe started walking towards the South to the forest, when they were supposed to head northeast.  "Duo!"

            "Let him go." Heero's image appeared over the vid screen.  "He's got something he needs to take care of first."

"Oh, but-"  
"He'll meet us back at the rendezvous."  

Quatre sighed. "If you say so."  Wing and Sandrock made their way North.

~^*^~

            "So, we meet again.  Sorry I'm so late this year…things have become really hectic." Duo looked down at the two stone markers by his feet.  "I know it's not the greatest excuse in the world…but it's the truth.  Heh, and you know me…I never tell a lie."  With an air of sadness he opened the box and pulled out two bouquets of flowers, carnations to be exact.  He remembered that Sister Helen always liked them.

            _"Sister, why do you always put flowers on the table before we eat?" _

_            "Because Duo, it makes the table look nice and it reminds us to be thankful of the beauty God gave us."_

_            "But why red?"_

_            "I don't know.  Red was always my favorite color as a little girl."_

_            "It looks like blood."_

_            "Well, some people use them to decorate the graves of those unjustly killed…"_

            Duo rubbed his eyes and placed the flowers carefully by the gravestones.  No one deserved to die less than Father Maxwell and Sister Helen.  They had taken him in and cared for him when no one else did.  They were like—no, they were—his family, and they died because of him.  Sister Helen used to tell him stories every night.  He loved how she explained the answers to his questions in ways he understood.  She would have made a terrific mother…

            Duo looked down solemnly.  He'd been coming to pay his respects ever since the day of the massacre, or at least, as soon to the date as he could.  The memories of Sister dying in his arms still haunted him.  "All because they believed in something."  That belief was instilled in Duo.  He fought to maintain the peace they fought so hard to obtain and he never forgot the lessons that he learned early on in his life at the Church.  "I just wish you could be here to enjoy it.  This is your victory as much as mine, Father.  I miss you guys."  It was true.  Something was missing from his life.  It died along with the people he cared most about and he tried in vain for years to replace it.  Fighting with the gundams just seemed to dull the pain of being alone.  That was probably why he saw Deathscythe as more than just a mech, but a friend.  

            Duo rose off his knees and got to his feet.  "I better get goin'.  You know how Heero gets when one of us keeps him waiting when he could be blowin' stuff up."  He grinned and placed his black cap on his head, pulling it down so it shaded his eyes.  "I'll come again soon, I promise."  He took one last look at the graves and left.  He took a moment to walk through the ruins of the once beautiful Maxwell Church.  The memories flooded back to him and Duo could imagine where every room was.  He could even remember where some of the furniture was.  He looked over to where the table used to be, where he spent hours sitting on the Father's lap and talking.

"You say there's no God?"

"Yeah. If there's really a God, He should stop the war.  If the war didn't exist, there wouldn't have been orphans like me."

"Duo... God doesn't start wars, but people do. People have to end what they start."  
"Hmm.... So it doesn't matter if there is a God or not, huh?"  
"That's not true!"  
"I think the only God in this world is Shinigami."  
"Duo ...You don't believe in God, but you believe in Shinigami?"  
" Yeah! Because I've never seen a miracle, but I've seen lots and lots of dead people!"  
"…………"  
"Haha, it's hard to argue with you."

Duo chuckled and shook his head.  "I must have drove them nuts sometimes…" He looked at his watch. "Like I must be driving Heero now."  He turned and walked back towards his gundam, cutting across the rubble.  Jumping off a pile of rocks, something caught his eyes.  He stopped and changed directions, heading to a pile of rocks not dissimilar from the others.  It looked like he was in the old rectory office.  Duo bent down and picked up an old rusted metal box.  "This was the box that Father Maxwell kept in his desk!" He turned it over in his hands.  The lock had clearly rusted off sometime ago, but unfortunately the box was rusted shut.  Duo dug in his pockets and produced a small beam knife.  Taking great care not to damage the inside, he cut the lid off the box and opened it.  

Inside were various items:  a rosary, a small cross and chain, papers and legal documents, and a picture of Father Maxwell, Sister Helen and himself attached to a letter.  Duo stared at the picture for a long time, ignoring the churning of his stomach or the burning in his eyes.  After what seemed like an eternity, he unclipped the picture and opened the letter. 

Dear Father Maxwell c/o the Maxwell Church,

Records indicate that your suspicion was correct.  Blood and DNA tests confirm that the child in your care is of blood relation to one Kitana Mason, adopted from the church orphanage at age 5 by the Mason family.  We regret to inform you that because of the ban on communication between colonies, we do not know the whereabouts of the child or her foster family.  We wish you luck in your search.

Sincerely,

L2 Colony Social Services 

Duo stared at the letter.  "Who were they searching for?"  He looked through the other papers searching for some sort of clue.  There were two files, one labeled Duo and one Kitana.  It was standard procedure for each orphan to have a file with blood type and DNA information on file.  He opened them and began to look when something caught his attention.  He looked at the picture of the five-year-old girl.  She had brown hair and large violet eyes.  She looked almost scared to have her photo taken.  Duo blinked and held up her picture to his.  His eyes widened and he dropped both pictures.  "Holy shit!! It…can't be…can it…?"  He blinked again and slowly looked at the pictures again.  This was too weird.  He gathered everything up and, putting it back in the box, made a b-line for Deathscythe.

~^*^~

            Quatre looked up from his computer screen at the sound of hasty knocking on the door.  "Who is it?"

            "Duo…"

            "Come in."  His smile faded as Duo walked in and over to the desk.  He was somewhat pale and very distressed.  He looked like he'd just seen a ghost.  "Everything okay?"  
            Duo shook his head.  He pulled out the two pictures and put them side-by-side, pushing them over to Quatre.  "Tell me what that looks like."

            Quatre held up the pictures and looked at them.  His jaw dropped.  "Duo, this girl looks just like you!"

            "Thanks, at least now I know I'm not crazy." He recounted everything he knew to Quatre and showed him the letter.  "I don't know what's going on!  I didn't know anything about this.  They were looking for this person, but I don't know what for.  The letter was dated about two weeks before they were killed, so any follow up they would have done wouldn't have been completed."  He sighed and rubbed his temples.  

            Quatre placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.  "Is there anything I can do?"

            Duo nodded.  "Yeah, I need a favor…"


	2. News

Family Ties

By Excelcia

Chapter 2:  News

Disclaimer:  I do NOT own Gundam Wing or any characters associated with Sunrise Inc.  Kitana Mason and other characters in this fic are copyrighted to me, for they come of my freaky subconscious.  Thank you!  Enjoy the fic.  Come again.

            Duo paced the hall outside Quatre's office nervously.  He'd gotten an email from the blond pilot a few days ago saying that he had something to tell him.  So why was he so nervous?  It had been six months since Quatre agreed to help look for the girl and her family and still no word.  Quatre said it would take a while to track her down, but not impossible.  Duo sighed and leaned up against the wall.  If he smoked, he was sure he would've gone through about five cigarettes by now.  What was taking him so long?

            The door opened and three men stepped out, all wearing three-piece business suits.  They all turned to look at the black priest's garb that Duo was wearing with a sense of disapproval as they filed out of the office.  Duo shook his head and went through the door.  "What's with the penguins?"

            Quatre chuckled.  "Businessmen.  They're proposing a deal with the colonies and the Earth sphere.  In my opinion, they're trying to get a foothold in the Terra forming project before anyone else.  That way they can distribute property privately and make a better profit for themselves; opposite from Relena's ideas, mind you.  "Anyway, you're probably wondering why I asked you to come."

            "The thought had crossed my mind."

            Quatre's smile disappeared.  "Duo, sit down."  He took his seat after Duo had settled in the chair after him.  "The search results came in…"

            Duo's face lit up.  "And??"

            Quatre pulled a file from his top desk drawer and opened it.  "Dear Mr. Winner, We regret to inform you that the individuals you were in search of were reported killed in a military uprising three years ago.  We are dreadfully sorry to give you such bad news in this way, and wish you the best coping with your loss…" Quatre looked up from the paper.  " I'm sorry Duo…"

            Duo's smile had long since faded.  He slowly sank down into the chair and put his head in his hands.  Dead?  That wasn't possible…it couldn't have been.  "Quatre, maybe they made a mistake?"

            Quatre shook his head.  "I called them to verify.  Kitana Mason, adopted from Maxwell orphanage in the year After Colony 185.  It all checked out with what was in those files.  I'm really sorry Duo."

            "Nah, it's okay Quatre.  Thanks for trying…" Duo got up and headed for the door.

            "Is there anything I can do?"

            "No.  I'll be okay.  Thanks Quat."  Duo headed out of the office and down to the street.  He turned and walked, not knowing where he was going, nor did he care.  "That's it then."  The last shred of hope that he wasn't alone in the world had just been crushed.  He couldn't stand it anymore.  First it had been the only two people who ever cared about him, now it was his only blood relative.  He didn't even get the chance to see her.  He strolled along the fence of the spaceport only stopping to watch a ship speed off towards the inner gate.  The pain was back.  It was the same feeling that over took his senses and numbed his feelings.  He felt it the day his best friend Solo died and again the day of the massacre and he was feeling the same firey pain that burned away his at his soul now.  He just wanted it to go away, to escape this miserable existence that he came to be in.  The only thing that left him hanging on was his commitment to the others as a gundam pilot.  But now…Duo let a resigned sigh escape his lips and made his was around the spaceport in a wide arc towards his temporary home.


End file.
